As reported earlier, the Full Court recently determined in Commissioner of Patents v Thaler [2022] FCAFC 62 that a device characterized as an artificial intelligence machine cannot be considered an ‘inventor’ within the meaning of the Patents Act 1990.
Counsel for Dr Stephen Thaler, the applicant for Australian patent application no. 2019363177 which names an AI machine DABUS as the sole inventor, has now filed a special leave application to the High Court seeking to appeal the Full Court decision. The High Court is Australia’s apex court.
Successful special leave applications are relatively rare, as the High Court must be satisfied that the appeal involves a question of general principle of law sufficient to warrant the grant of special leave or be in the public interest. An outcome for the special leave application may be available later this year.